Safeguarding America’s Pharmaceuticals Act of 2013

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H.R. 1919 – To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to the pharmaceutical distribution supply chain, and for other purposes. Click, HERE for the full committee vote with YouTube videos link.

Recently (Monday June 3, 2013), the U.S. House passed legislation that would direct the FDA to establish national standards for monitoring the distribution of pharmaceuticals. The bill, also called “Safeguarding America’s Pharmaceuticals Act of 2013″ would impose new regulations on the network of companies that produce, handle, distribute, and dispense medicines. Those in the distribution chain would be required to provide notification to state and federal regulators about products that may be unsuitable to distribute.

The measure “is an important step to ensure greater patient safety for all Americans,” Ohio Republican Bob Latta, who introduced the bill, said during debate on the House floor. He said it will replace “the current patchwork” of state and federal rules to “protect against the threat posed by counterfeit drugs.”

With every new piece of legislation there will always be those who are against it. The legislation includes a provision, in Section 8, that would mandate electronic labeling for pharmaceutical drugs, which means that the critical information about dosage, side effects, etc would be only available online and wouldn’t be provided on the paper with the pharmaceuticals. With this, I worry about the elderly who don’t use the internet. On the other hand, for those of you who are “green,” it’s a pretty sweet thing!